The Pageant of Ayrshire 1934

This pageant of the month may have taken place 80 years ago,
but it engages with something of a present-day topic of interest given that
Scotland may vote to leave the Union on 18th September 2014.

The Pageant of
Ayrshire was subtitled, 'The Story of Scotland's Struggle for
Independence', however if the organisers of this large-scale event did have any
particular political messages to deliver, contrary to what this title might
imply, they were certainly not aimed at severing ties with the UK. Instead,
this pageant loudly celebrated all that seemed vital in the 1930s for the
maintenance of Scotland's position as an equal partner within the United
Kingdom. Indeed, this was a pageant untroubled by political nationalism but very
much concerned about the preservation of Scottish cultural identity within the Union.

Its overall message was to highlight the place
of history in the formation and safeguarding of Scottish national identity, in spite of the Union of 1707, and to
evangelise about the importance of the county of Ayrshire in the bigger picture
of this national historical narrative. And indeed, there was plenty in the way
of local legend in order to successfully do so.

Cover of the souvenir programme for the Pageant of Ayrshire

The Pageant of Ayrshire was held in the ancient burgh of Ayr and was
the largest event of this type to be held in a Scottish town up until this
date. Following its eight performances held between the 16th and 23rd June
1934, it was reported that the pageant had attracted an audience of almost
92,000. For a wee seaside and market town this was a massive achievement, but small
or no, Ayr took its position as the cultural seat of its namesake county very
seriously. Consequently, in its role as host for this pageant, it had never
aimed small.

Over 3000 people from across Ayrshire performed in the pageant, which
had six episodes: beginning with prehistory in Episode 1, which depicted the
legend of King Coilus, and ending with an extravagant celebration of the life
and works of the poet Robert Burns in episode 6. Throughout, individual
localities or organisations took charge of particular scenes within each episode,
or for some, the entire episode was in their charge. So for example, Ardrossan,
a coastal town in the north of the county, organised all of episode 2, which
recalled a great battle between the Scots and the Vikings in 1263, following
which Alexander III of Scotland put an end to Viking influence in his realm. And
the industrial town of Kilmarnock situated in the east of Ayrshire, was
entrusted with episode 5 on the Covenanters. Given that perhaps the most famous
Scottish covenanting martyr, John Brown, hailed from nearby, this organisation of
the pageant paid proper heed to local ownership of the past.

Naturally, the town of Ayr's big contribution was episode 6 on the life and work of their most famous literary son, and renowned champion of liberty, Robert Burns, who more than any other figure from the past had made Ayr into a place of international pilgrimage.

Performers in the Robert Burns episode depicting the Jolly Beggars at Poosie Nancie's Tavern

The Burns episode, which included
four separate scenes, was hailed at the time as spectacular and moving in equal
measure. One scene included a ballet performed by 250 witches in an enactment
of the famous verse Tam O'Shanter; but
as well as capitalising on the humour and drama of Burns' poetry, the personal
travails of the poet at the end of his life, were also poignantly depicted.

'...the history of Ayrshire is, in
a large measure, the history of Scotland.'

Although this
pageant celebrated local history, all of the publicity surrounding it also
proclaimed loudly that the performance would tell the national story. In early publicity and continuously up until the
event, the pageant was described as 'not an Ayrshire, but a Scottish pageant'.
While this type of aggrandisement was hardly unusual within pageants, it worked
particularly well in the context of Ayrshire. The county was the birthplace of
national heroes such as Robert the Bruce (celebrated in episode 4) as well as
Burns. Moreover, the Ayrshire landscape was littered with monuments and
landmarks recalling the arch liberator William Wallace who was depicted in
episode 3 of the pageant. The use of Scotland's most iconic freedom fighters and
the notion of 'struggle' worked successfully to encourage the widest possible
audience, drawn not just from the local area but also from the large numbers of
holidaymakers and day-trippers who arrived during the summer months to this
part of the Clyde coast. The event was also aimed at international visitors who
it was expected would flock to immerse themselves in the heritage of the ‘land
of Burns’. And flock they did.

Local amateur artist, Roy McLean, created an illuminated manuscript as a record of the pageant. Here William Wallace is depicted in Monkton Chapel in Ayrshire pledging his allegiance to Scotland.

The
Pageant Master, Matthew Anderson, was an energetic and imaginative publicist;
under his leadership, pageant organisers enlisted the partnership of shipping
companies to promote the pageant in North America and on the European
continent. Capitalising on Scottish migrant networks and the international
appeal of Scotland's national bard and his Ayrshire antecedents, news of the
pageant was spread to Burns Clubs and similar Scottish émigré societies
worldwide. The pageant was advertised at the Lyons Industrial Fair in March and
at the Scottish Travel Exhibition held in London in April and May 1934 where
tickets were sold by the player who took the role of 'Cutty Sark' in the Tam O'Shanter scene.

Publicity Still of Matthew Anderson in 1934

'The most elaborate open-air drama ever presented...'

Anderson came to Ayrshire fresh
from his organisation of several large events in England. Originally a journalist
who had found a niche in writing and directing pageants he was, despite his
English pageant pedigree, also ‘a perfervid Scot and an Ayrshire man to boot’.
His interest in the Ayrshire pageant was therefore both professional and
personal. It was also commercial: the
deal Anderson agreed with Ayr was for ‘ten per cent of the gross takings, less
entertainment tax.’ With considerable flair he pursued the idea that the
Ayrshire pageant should be the best ever show, and not just in parochial
Scottish terms. Evidently, with the example of larger pageants held south of
the border in mind, he further said that it would also be ‘the most striking
pageant attempted in Great Britain… not through any particular merit of the
scenario, but because of the subjects with which it dealt.’ Implying that the
Scottish national drama could steal a march on anything England had to offer
for excitement and romance, and, for the fervour of its patriotic message. In
order to ensure that this ambition was achieved, Anderson also authored the
script. He certainly had chutzpah!

Anderson's skill paid off: the Pageant of
Ayrshire was a huge success. Impressive staging and generally good weather
helped, as did the attractions that Ayr as a town had during the interwar years
with its long esplanade and busy market town atmosphere. Yet more important
than all of this, was that the pageant's underlying message seemed to hit the
right note at the right moment, for as predicted, the story of Scotland's struggle
for independence had considerable appeal, both for the participants and the
audiences.

Illustration from the front cover of the Official Book of the Pageant of Ayrshire

Exploiting the zeitgeist.

The theme of this pageant suited
the mood of the times. Unemployment, strife and political unrest were
widespread in lowland Scotland in the early 1930s, and memories of WW1 were
still potent, so that the message that Scots were made of sterner stuff was a resonant
one. However, the retelling of Scotland's historic fight against English despotism
and applause for the independent spirit of the Scots were not aimed at arousing
dissent, indeed, quite the opposite was the case. Would such a nation of
successful freedom fighters ever have allowed their country to be coerced into
union with a larger nation? And having joined forces, would they ever have
deserted their allies in war?

The fact that most Scots easily
identified as 'British' and could do so without the loss of all that made
Scottish identity unique was the cause for celebration in this pageant. The fact
of political union was simply not the issue; this, for mostScots at this time, was taken entirely for granted.

Ayrshire International!

The
finale of the pageant included not only all of the performers from previous
episodes, but also a grand international procession with around 300 Ayrshire
performers dressed in the national costumes of countries from across the globe.
It presented a striking spectacle, and was all the more remarkable given that
this splendid show was staged against a backdrop of severe economic depression.
The nations were depicted paying homage to the literary genius of Burns, and of
course, in doing so they were displaying their debt to no less than the land that
had given Burns to the world: that land was Scotland.

Performers depicting 'India' in the Finale of the pageant

Organisers of the Pageant of
Ayrshire clearly did not feel the need to undersell themselves! Two years later, in the summer of 1936, and
still buoyed by the success of its county pageant, Ayr held another historical
event. Entitled, The Romance of the Road, it celebrated the centenary of the death of the engineer John 'Tar' Macadam. All
of the augurs were good for this pageant as well: brilliant weather,
interesting props from the world of
travel, local enthusiasm from the performers and so forth... but sadly, it
flopped. At least one of the reasons for this failure was its lack of
attachment to exclusively Scottish themes. The local press stated that this
performance, despite its celebration of yet another local son who had achieved
international fame, failed to privilege 'the Scottish scene'. So that for the
audience, 'there was uncertainty as to whether the `occasions we were
witnessing were in England or Scotland.'

Flying the flag for Scottish
culture and national identity.

This cautionary experience underlines
the fact that in the 1930s, while most Scots were perfectly happy to be
British, and indeed, this particular pageant was, like all others, closed in
traditional style with a rendition of God Save the King, for popular displays of history, Scots were not content to
play second fiddle to their larger neighbour. Keeping the spirit of Scottish independence
alive through enacting the past was too important to be sidelined within a
narrative that might be viewed as generically 'British' or, dare it be said, too
easily mistaken as English. In countless
pageants held in Scotland, icons of Scottish independent thinking such as
Wallace, the Bruce, the diehard Covenanters, and the poet Robert Burns were a
means of keeping alive the meaning of Scottish independence within the Union and reinforcing the
contribution that Scottish attributes had made to the strength of Great Britain.
These events promoted the notion that Scottish identity would never be
undermined so long as the history of Scotland's struggle remained in popular
consciousness. Lurking in the background of such patriotic feasts was, of
course, the spectre of the eventual disappearance of a separate Scottish
identity, should the national tale ever be forgotten.

Changing Times?

That spectre did not emerge and in
their time, events such as the Pageant of Ayrshire played a significant role in
warding it off. Moreover, interest in Scottish history has continued to grow and
continues to inform identity politics. Yet, approaches to the national story
have inevitably changed and perhaps because of this the ending of the tale of
Scotland's struggle for independence may be about to be re-written. The
election that will take place in 2014 would have been unthinkable to the great
majority of Scots in 1934 when the struggle for independence was widely viewed
as having been settled, if not wholly amicably, then at least pragmatically, in
1707. Recent history suggests otherwise. The organisers of the Pageant of
Ayrshire may well be turning in their graves! Or, perhaps, they may see this as the
inevitable sequel to a story that has proved to be extraordinarily resistant to
being subsumed and forgotten. For one relatively small band of stalwarts, this
certainly was the case: 1934 was also the year when the Scottish National Party
was formed.

*All
images are shown with the kind permission of the local history section of the
Carnegie Library in Ayr; I also wish to thank all of the staff there for their
enthusiastic support with research for the project.*